Aviation Minister: Air India will have difficulties in operation if it is not privatised

Speaking about the disinvestment of Air India on Wednesday, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said, "If Air India is not privatised then from where the money would come for it to function?" Speaking to news agency ANI, he said, "Earlier we used to go to Finance Ministry to make up for the operating loss. We are not getting any money from the Finance Ministry, we have to go to banks."

'If we sell it now then bidders would come' 

He added that Air India was considered a first-class asset. If it was currently sold then there would be bidders for it. "If we take ideological positions that we don't want to sell it then it would be difficult to run it in the future," he said. When he was asked about the people employed by Air India, Puri said, "We are committed to them to get a fair deal. 11,000 and 4,000 on contract include trained engineers." He added that whoever acquired the airline would also need trained staff.

Govt determined to privatise Air India

Earlier in August this year, the Civil Aviation Minister had said that the government was determined to privatise Air India. He also added that there were parties interested in buying the airline. The Parliament on August 3 passed the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India (Amendment) Bill, 2019, which increased the threshold of annual passenger traffic for major airports to over 35 lakh. Civil Aviation stated that the government was committed to privatisation of Air India as its debt has become totally unsustainable. The Bill, which seeks to amend the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India Act, 2008, had earlier been passed by Rajya Sabha.

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Government's attempt to sell Air India

India’s national carrier Air India has a debt ranging up to approximately Rs.58,000 crore. In a recent interview, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman exuded confidence that the sale of public sector organisations such as Air India would be completed very soon. She mentioned that there was a “lot of interest” among investors to buy Air India. The development comes after the Union Cabinet approved changes in the process of disinvestment whereby the prospective bidders would be heard in roadshows before the Expressions of Interest (EoIs) are floated. In 2018, the government attempted to offload 76% stake and management control in Air India, but it did not get a single bidder.

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(With ANI inputs)